news brief

12:02 pm

Sun December 12, 2010

Sunday News Roundup

A delicious morning breakfast, one of several dishes featured in a Houston Chronicle piece about "hangover food." Link below

Image courtesy Rhodes http://www.flickr.com/photos/rhodes

If you’re a Longhorns fan, you probably already heard the stunning news that defensive coordinator Will Muschamp is leaving to coach the Gators. In the words of the Statsman’s Kirk Bohls, “the fist-pumping, chest-bumping defensive coordinator tired of waiting for his turn at the top and headed to Florida.” What you may not have heard is that Orangebloods.com, the paid site that broke the Greg Davis departure days before any of the papers, is now saying Major Applewhite will follow Muschamp to the Sunshine State.

If it hurts your eyes to read that, the Houston Chronicle’s Richard Justice has some calming words. He says everything will be okay. Meanwhile, check out this blog post for an extensive roundup of reaction in Florida.

While the killings and threats of extortion have forced thousands of retail businesses in Juárez to close and tens of thousands of residents to flee their homes for the safety of Texas, border business experts say the vibrancy of the city’s manufacturing industry is due to what is and has always been the bottom line: money.

The Fort Worth Star-Telegram leads its Sunday edition with a troubling investigative report that found doctors across Texas doled out $47 million worth of Medicaid prescriptions for antipsychotic and anti-anxiety drugs over the past two years, and most of it went to children.

Some advocates are concerned that the drugs are unsafe for children, who make up nearly 75 percent of Texas Medicaid's 3.2 million recipients. In a 16-state study, Texas had the maximum rate of prescribing multiple mental-health drugs to youths in foster care. Although the number of prescriptions had dropped 19 percent by 2007, Texas was still tops, according to the June study.

The Dallas Morning News also leads with an investigative piece today that reports that found a special unit of the Dallas County District Attorney’s office assigned to investigate allegations of government corruption rarely investigates officials.

The Dallas Morning News found that a majority of cases the unit handles – including investigations into wrongdoing by school employees, medical professionals, police officers and attorneys – typically result in lenient sentences that leave many offenders without a criminal record.

Under Watkins' administration, the unit apparently has not won convictions against any elected officials. And its controversial involvement in the long-running constable investigation has drawn fire from critics and some legal experts.